An Overview of Veganism on X: Is Veganism a Political Activism or a Dietary Style in the Turkish Case?

Year 2024, Volume: 8 Issue: 28, 109 - 116, 30.06.2024

A. Fulya Şen

https://doi.org/10.31455/asya.1405715

Abstract

Veganism is commonly described as the attempt to avoid, as far as possible, the exploitation and consumption of animals and animal products. It is acknowledged as a collective action aimed at political transformation, not an individual quest for a pure ethical diet. Many times, veganism is misinterpreted as a diet or style of eating. It's a movement against the needless suffering and exploitation of non-human animals. As a result, veganism rejects human consumption habits that harm animals, such as those found in our clothes, food, makeup, and entertainment (Cochrane and Cojocaru, 2023a, 2023b; Linton, 2022). Hence, this study aims to explore how veganism was framed on X (formerly Twitter) and associated with political activism. It claims that veganism is beyond a personal lifestyle, a form of activism providing insight into political change. This paper, which examined the posts of the Vegan Association of Turkey and also 4 news websites, Hurriyet, Haberturk, BirGün, and Bianet, has revealed that the Vegan Association of Turkey dealt with mostly vegan activism patterns but did not refer to the elements of political activism. It also displayed that although the left-wing and alternative news media covered the activist practices of veganism, the sampling news websites mostly framed veganism within nutrition and lifestyle patterns. In particular, the mainstream news media excluded the political and activist roles of veganism from vegan representations. In conclusion, under-representing political constituents of veganism on X means that the hegemonic consumerism culture is reproduced and new perspectives on consumerism, capitalism, gender, and the environment have not been sufficiently debated in the public sphere.

Keywords

Vegan, Veganism, Vegan Activism, Political Activism, Vegan Nutrition

X’te Veganizme Genel Bir Bakış: Türkiye Örneğinde Veganlık Siyasi Bir Aktivizm mi, Yoksa Bir Beslenme Tarzı mı?

Abstract

Veganlık genellikle hayvanların ve hayvansal ürünlerin sömürülmesi ve tüketiminden mümkün olduğunca kaçınma girişimi olarak tanımlanmakta, salt bir etik beslenmeye yönelik bireysel bir arayış değil, siyasi dönüşümü amaçlayan kolektif bir eylem olarak kabul edilmektedir. Çoğu zaman veganlık bir diyet ve beslenme tarzı olarak yanlış yorumlanmaktadır. Aslında bu, hayvanların gereksiz yere acı çekmesine ve sömürülmesine karşı bir harekettir. Sonuç olarak veganlık, kıyafetlerimizde, yiyeceklerimizde, makyajımızda ve eğlencemizde bulunan hayvanlara zarar veren insan tüketim alışkanlıklarını reddetmektedir (Cochrane ve Cojocaru, 2023a, 2023b; Linton, 2022). Dolayısıyla bu çalışma, veganlığın X'te (eski adıyla Twitter) nasıl çerçevelendiğini ve siyasi aktivizmle nasıl ilişkilendirildiğini araştırmayı amaçlamakta, kişisel bir yaşam tarzının ötesinde, siyasi değişime ışık tutan bir aktivizm biçimi olduğunu ileri sürmektedir. Türkiye Vegan Derneği ile haber sitesi olarak Hürriyet, Habertürk, BirGün ve Bianet’in gönderilerini inceleyen bu makale, Türkiye Vegan Derneği'nin çoğunlukla vegan aktivizm örüntülerini ele aldığını, ancak siyasi aktivizmin unsurlarına değinmediğini, sol ve alternatif haber medyasının veganlığın aktivist pratiklerine yer vermekle birlikte, örnek olarak incelenen haber sitelerinin veganizmi beslenme ve yaşam tarzı kalıpları kapsamında çerçevelediğini, özellikle ana akım haber medyasının veganlığın siyasi ve aktivist rollerini vegan temsillerinin dışında tuttuğunu ortaya koymuştur. Sonuç olarak, veganlığın siyasi bileşenlerinin X’te yeterince temsil edilmemesi, hegemonik tüketim kültürünün yeniden üretildiği ve tüketim, kapitalizm, cinsiyet ve çevreye ilişkin yeni bakış açılarının kamusal alanda yeterince tartışılmadığı anlamına gelmektedir.

Keywords

Vegan, Veganizm, Vegan Aktivizm, Politik Aktivizm, Vegan Beslenme

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